Communication in business with Virtual Assistants: Learn from behind the scenes of two employers outsourcing their work to overseas Virtual Assistants!
Communication in Business
Reader Interactions
Just Getting Started With A Virtual Assistant For Your Online Business?
Getting started with a virtual assistant is part-6 of an interview with Eric, a fellow entrepreneur interested in outsourcing his work to virtual assistants all over the world.
Follow along to learn from our experience on working with VAs!
Summary:
- Getting started with a virtual assistant by knowing his/her weaknesses and strength.
- Turn your virtual assistants’ strength into profit and reinforce training to beat his/her weaknesses.
- Training your newly hired virtual assistant to be effective in his or her new role
Start of the Interview:
Francis
At the beginning, of course you can make an inventory of saying what skills the assistant already has. If they tell you that he has a WordPress site then you know, of course, that he has quite the skills already.
He has internet marketing basics. He knows probably basic HTML, basic CMS usage and so on. But, if he tells you, yeah, he’s a newbie virtual assistant. Then it’s best to just assume he knows Google Search.
Eric
Right.
Francis
Yeah, but it’s free. So, it’s very good for starting out and also for overcoming any of fear of, “Oh it’s weird to record videos to my computer”
But, when you go over that then you change. Instead of recording 10 Jing videos, you just free talk 1 hour. Time flies when I record videos but then you cover everything.
So, I like to record instruction videos as I’m working so I really load my pages in real time. I don’t pause for that.
I don’t edit out this stuff. Because I think if I take half an hour to clean up my recording somehow and my virtual assistant takes one hour longer to fight himself through watching this recording two times then I’m willing to pay for his time more than I’m willing to use my time.
So, for example this research, I would just open a screen recording or a set of screen recording videos and then I would go. And as I do the work and open the link of a new competitor and it’s loading in my internet, I’m just talking about the background of why I’m doing it to give the assistant a bigger picture.
So, there will be waiting times as we work online and that like you just continue talking either about different ideas, different topics and different tasks or about the background of why I’m doing this.
So, this will help the assistant when he’s doing his own research to support his work. For example, he has to use the backlink checker and then you saying sort of on the sidelines, “Yeah but I don’t mind which backlink checker you use. If you find a better one, just use that one.” But your virtual assistant does not know this without you saying that.
Eric
Right, yeah.
Francis
So, don’t say it, he assumes you have to use this back up check link. And then the next day you have an email reading, “Sorry my country is blocked from that service. What should I do?”
Then you say, “Obviously search for an alternative.” But he doesn’t know. He assumes that you want it especially, in this format, because of some reason he doesn’t know.
If you specify you don’t care which backlink checker you just want the result and actually say, “Please go look for better backlink checker and then use the best one.” This gives him the amount of freedom he needs to skip the next obvious question.
And if you tell him, “Okay, do that.” And then he says “Sorry, I didn’t know how to do that. I’m waiting for your response.” And you are angry because he didn’t just give you the result.
If in a passage, you just say, “Okay, please do that. And if this video is not good enough, you are allowed up to 2 hours of free research using YouTube search and whatever to inform yourself about using the software before coming back to me with questions.”
Eric
That’s something that I never thought about was to just give them a couple of free hours to kind of search for a solution. And I think that probably would have helped me to kind of, first of all, give my virtual assistant a little bit more freedom to where they felt that they could do things on their own, as well as the fact that they could possibly have already found a solution before having to come back to me and ask for the solution for me.
Francis
Yeah. And ideally if you do this in the beginning, later on they will find a healthy solution. So unhealthy would be to go into losing your time for ten hours and researching heavily for technical solution when you can explain that to them in 10 minutes.
That’s ineffective. But if they know that, in general, one each topic they are allowed on 20% of research time to make the project as smooth as possible and that you’re happy with that because it takes you time explaining.
After 2 or 3 different projects, they will know. And you don’t need to tell them anytime. We don’t even need to specify the time.
So, for example for such spreadsheet research, the spreadsheets my assistant or, in general, assistants do are awesome. I don’t know why. But, many assistants from India and these countries, they are masters of Excel.
And that spreadsheet looked really… I have found myself several times wondering if they can teach me how to do that. I wanted a lesson on how to make a spreadsheet like my virtual assistant, honestly.
Eric
Yeah. They do great. Mine did too. They do an amazing job at spreadsheet.
Francis
Yeah. But, at the beginning perhaps, they don’t know they are allowed to do that. So perhaps, when you show them you are working spreadsheet as you do it, then you send them the spreadsheet and say, “Okay, fill it.”
And you would sort of be expecting a great spreadsheet with filtering function, colors and layout and formatting. Perhaps, they will not dare to use the time to do that because you did not specify that to them.
So if you tell them, use the spreadsheet form you’re most comfortable with. In some countries, you will be surprised how much more they over deliver.
So, I like to really specify that when they do the research where they are free to have freedom and where they are not free.
Eric
I definitely agree. I definitely agree with that.
Francis
Yeah, yeah. I want to avoid talking at you instead of talking with you so please stop me when I’m just talking and talking.
Eric
No, that’s fine. I’m gaining a lot from what you’re saying, really, because those are some things that I’ve never even really considered myself. So I’m learning a lot just by listening to you talking–definitely.
Francis
That’s great.
Continue reading part 7 – How to measure productivity with virtual assistant communications?
Learn How To Handle A Newbie Full-Time Virtual Assistant
Full-time virtual assistants is part-14 of an interview with Eric, a fellow entrepreneur interested in outsourcing his work to virtual assistants all over the world.
Follow along to learn from our experience on working with VAs!
Click here to read part 13 of this interview – Part-time vs full-time virtual assistants
Summary:
- Learn how to get started with full-time virtual assistants to do general tasks for your online business
- Learn how to avoid wasting time on repetitive question and answer communication with full-time virtual assistants.
- Learn how to train and work effectively with full-time virtual assistants.
Start of the Interview:
Francis
And since my assistant has worked with me for a long period of time, he knows me. And also, can give her feedbacks. So he said okay, he really wrote that. They were chatting and since I can see the screen captures from my main assistant work diary, I saw what they were talking about sometimes.
And you are saying, okay, so first of all Francis is a nice guy and he’s really patient and he will give you great instructions via video. So, that’s what my assistant told the full time candidate.
And then he was explaining the system. How SBI! works, what my sites were all about, and where my goals are at. I didn’t have to do that anymore. So, this saved me a lot of time explaining.
And I knew about this because I am reviewing regularly the screen captures from oDesk. So, that’s I guess a pro for the project based assistants.
Eric
You’re right. And I think that when you’re first hiring your first assistant, I think that you have to kind of hire that person as a General VA, you know.
You don’t want to think that they can do everything. You kind of hire them as okay, check emails, check I don’t know whatever things, doing research, different things like that.
And you hire a person to basically just do general tasks for you. And then as you start to evolve and your business starts to grow then you can kind of be like okay, well now I’m ready to add people to my team.
Then you can promote that person and then they can start like you said doing the hiring and kind of be the middle person between you and the other assistants. And they’re kind of like the team leader and, you know what I’m saying?
Francis
Yes, I believe — I agree and that’s what I’m actually doing.
Eric
Because, I think as business owners when we first start getting into the whole concept of virtual assistants, I don’t think that we understand the idea of building the team. We look at it as, “Oh we’re just hiring individuals and they’re just going to work for me and do specific tasks.”
But, I think if we really want to live the dream of having a virtual assistant or being able to sit on the beach and not do anything, you know what I’m saying?
You have to build a team. You have to create certain rules that you want for that certain project. And then hire people to fill that role rather than just having a bunch of random stuff going on in your business. Does that make sense?
Francis
Yeah, it totally does make sense. And also if the team is synergetic, so working with each other to complement each other. That’s much more efficient than if everyone has sort of the same set of tasks and are not talking to each other. Then a lot of potential stuff can be lost.
Continue reading part 15 – How to outsource tasks with a team of virtual assistants?
How Do You Fire an Assistant Who is Unfit for the Job?
Fire assistant is part-12 of an interview with Eric, a fellow entrepreneur interested in outsourcing his work to virtual assistants all over the world.Follow along to learn from our experience on working with VAs!
Summary:
- How to not get emotionally involved with your virtual assistant to avoid letting emotions guide your decisions
- Learn how to fire assistants who do not fit the job title nicely without getting too emotionally attached
- Learn when is the right time to fire your virtual assistant
Start of the Interview:
Francis
Because then it gets emotional and then you are not able to, for example, fire that assistant anymore.
Eric
Yeah, that’s true. Yeah, you don’t want to go right out at the gate and really just get to know their entire family and take them up for lunch or whatever. Then they’re doing a bad job and then you want to get rid of them and you can’t.
Francis
I really do believe that also you should be open and upfront with your expectations and how you handle failure. This will take a lot of the misery and anxiety hopefully away from the virtual assistant.
So, for example, you are a very well hard-core employer. Perhaps, that’s your style or anyone’s style and you say, “Okay, you can make one mistake and then it’s over.”
I don’t believe that’s very efficient. But, if you are like that and you cannot change then so be it. You will find perhaps someone who’s able to be holding up these standards for some price.
But then your assistant knows how hard and specific he can work before he delivers anything.
For me, the expectation is you can make lots of mistakes as long as we learn from it. It’s okay. And as long as we talk and we don’t stop talking about it, it’s okay. So, I was never abused in this situation that an assistant made too many mistakes because no assistant is really that inefficient. But, it gives them sort of the possibility to really try out a few things.
Eric
Yeah, definitely. Because, I think that you have to really take the time. Like, I know with my VA, I was sort of getting closer upfront and I was noticing some different things that she was lacking on or things that maybe weren’t as up to par as what I expected.
And it may be harder for me to kind of be like, “Okay, let’s re-evaluate our situation.” Well, I was kind of felt like I was obligated to continue to pay her even though it was necessarily something that I should’ve continued to do
Continue reading part 13 – Part-time vs full-time virtual assistants
How Effective is Video Screen Recording in Communicating Your Virtual Assistant?
Video screen recording is part-5 of an interview with Eric, a fellow entrepreneur interested in outsourcing his work to virtual assistants all over the world.
Follow along to learn from our experience on working with VAs!
Summary:
- Video screen recording as a tool in communicating with your virtual assistant across the globe gives your outsourcing effort the ultimate edge.
- How effective and reliable is video screening in relaying insights and ideas with your virtual assistant?
- What are the odds with audio-video application and video screening as a tool to channel instruction?
Start of the Interview:
Francis
I would like to go back to the basic research that you were not able to get overnight and that was not making you happy at the beginning.
Assuming that you have read the transcript from this interview and you’ll say, “Okay, at the beginning, start with very basic tasks.”
Even if you say, “Okay, now I finally hired a virtual assistant. It took me a week to find the right candidate and lots of time to hire and interview. And now, we finally have them and have given them the Dropbox account and whatever.” Now you just want to get to work.
I can’t totally relate to that since now I’m looking for a full-time VA to expand my team because I have so many ideas just itching in the back of my head wanting to get them out. But, I need the assistant to invest the time to get those ideas running. Because, to be honest, I, myself am not disciplined enough and willing to put the time into it, nor effective enough at working online in comparison to my assistants that I can do it myself.
Eric
Right. One of the things that I thought that I should have done was be on Skype more with my virtual assistant.
At the beginning, I was a little apprehensive to get on Skype with them. I thought that I could just basically use the chat function in Elance or the program that you use and that would be sufficient. And just send them over a text document and then they could just get to work.
And I realized that’s not how things need to be. There needs to be a one on one communication with each other just like we’re doing right now talking with your virtual assistant.
Let them hear your voice, let them see your face so that they can get to know you a little bit better. So that you can know them and make form that relationship with one another.
And also one thing that I wish that I would have done was started using Skype share screen.
Because, I think that if they can follow you and you can show them exactly what it is that you’re doing. And, then if they have any questions, they can ask you right then and there.
Well, you know, “Okay, Eric, I don’t understand exactly what you’re doing. Could you show me that one more time? Or could you explain that in a different way so that when I do that I won’t have to ask you another question later.”
I think if I have done that at the beginning that I wouldn’t have had as many problems. Because, then it would have kind of gotten rid of the whole delay process of back and forth questions between the two of us.
Francis
Okay. It’s funny that you say that because I have heard the same feedback from a friend of mine, another entrepreneur, who said it’s crucial to him that the virtual assistant has Skype access and is willing to Skype.
Eric
Yeah.
Francis
Because, even when you watch videos, you expect a lot of going back and forth question and answer. And to be honest, the feedback I received almost always from my virtual assistants, even new ones when I make videos, is that they say everything is clear and it’s much better than emails.
Then, in general, they just give some feedback of work and then I make another video commenting the new skill level. And then after sometime, it really is optimized.
And, I believe that if I put the time into connecting with Skype, waiting until the other party has set up their mic, etc; it would take much longer. And so to speak, my time is very valuable.
So, I try to find the most time effective way to communicate. And perhaps, it’s my way of talking in the recordings that’s different than others. I do not know.
But, in my experience, screen recording were always sufficient and it did not leave open very many questions. So, perhaps, we have to talk about how to record a screen recording so that we can communicate effectively.
Eric
Well, yeah. I think my issue was that because I tried to do the screen recording and it seemed to be okay, there was still a couple of questions that they would have.
And I think, as the person who’s used to doing that task, if somebody who’s familiar with that task and is used to doing it over and over again, I think that it’s harder for us to explain it to somebody who’s never done it before.
Francis
Oh, yeah. That’s true especially with propriety systems like content management systems or especially the SBI! system. But, as a side bar, so to speak, the SBI system has the big advantage that it has lot of training materials built in.
And just tell him, “Here, read this guide. Read this article then watch this video. Then come back if you have a question.”
Eric
Yeah, definitely. But, I think the problem is that like I’ve done something 150,000 times so when I go to explain to them, I’m not going to be as detailed because to me it seemed simple to me compared to somebody who’s never seen that platform before. It makes absolutely no sense.
So, I think that one of the things that we need to remember as employers when we’re hiring a virtual assistant is to remember that the virtual assistant may have never been exposed to anything like that before.
We need to be a little more careful when we’re explaining and not go too fast or not to skip these steps. Because, a lot of times, we’ll do little tricks or whatever that we’ve learned from using the software or using whatever it is and then skip over steps that leave room for confusion or places for misinterpretation of what we want done.
Francis
I also have made the experience of encouraging my assistants to look for the solution themselves and its good. So, for example, let’s say at the basic task, you have a research.
You have a research that’s more complex than you think yourself. But, perhaps you can tell me. Are you willing to tell me about the research and perhaps leave out critical information that’s sensitive to your business?
Eric
Yeah, definitely not a problem. Basically, what I wanted my assistant to go in and look for is, I wanted him to do research on different backlinks of a competitor and then give me a spreadsheet so that I could go through it and contact the people who were linked in to my competitors site.
I can’t remember exactly what the program was at the time but it was just a basic backlink checker software or a website and I would have them go in and type the URL of all of my competitors and then go in and find what is linking back to them.
And then find the contact forms and contact information for those people in those sites that I could send them an email to possibly get a link to my site.
Francis
Okay. Yeah. This is actually not so complicated for a research but I can see a few details that might put off the virtual assistant or take them longer than you imagine yourself.
So, if you have a small task like this, especially in the beginning, it would be more helpful than if you start with more complicated stuff.
Continue reading part 6 – Getting started with a virtual assistant
How Audio-Video Software Measures Productivity With Virtual Assistant Communications?
VA communications is part-7 of an interview with Eric, a fellow entrepreneur interested in outsourcing his work to virtual assistants all over the world.
Follow along to learn from our experience in working with VAs!
Click here to read part 6 of this interview – Getting started with a virtual assistant
Summary:
- Audio-video recording software is the most reliable means of employer and virtual assistant communications.
- How to monitor and increase your online business’ productivity with recording software.
- How reliable recording software is to get your message across your virtual assistant.
Start of the Interview:
Francis
So, I think we would have probably to compare screen recording video that I do and that you do and see if we can learn which style we’re doing it in.
When I do my screen recordings for my main assistant now, there’s a lot of implicit knowledge already there.
But, with the new assistant, in general, I’m trying to think about whatever questions they might have and try to answer them in advance because I know how annoying it is to lose time on back and forth questionings.
Eric
Right. For me, I think that the issue was that I wasn’t able to see or judge what the questions were that they were going to ask.
So, it was hard for me to be able to kind of be like “Okay, what questions are they going to have or what areas are they going? Is there going to be places for concern?”
So, then that makes things difficult when you’re trying to make the recording because you want to try to make it as detailed as possible.
But, you’re not exactly sure if this area is going to be something that’s going to be of an issue or I think that that just comes with time and once you learn the strengths of your virtual assistant, too.
I think once you see where the areas they’re strong in and the areas that they’re weak in . I think you’ll be able to tell or gauge a little bit more when it comes to areas areas that they need help with or where they will need a little assistance or a little more clarifications on certain things.
Francis
Yes. Another thought that came to my mind just now, especially in the beginning of the working relationship, is to make it clear how would you like the communication to be.
Many assistants assumed that you are available online, email, most of the day. And then you just write an email with one question. And then perhaps, you even take time during your day job and secretly open a Gmail window and just answer the question. That’s how you do it, but it’s not very effective.
So, in the beginning before he even starts the project, you should clarify how you would like the communication to be. You could say something like, “Okay, I’m sure many questions will come up.”
Put a list of questions together and send them to me at the end of the day. I will answer them all at once.
Eric
Right. Yeah, kind of batch your questions together rather than one at a time.
Francis
An alternative is okay. You will have many questions, you are allowed to do the background research and you are also allowed to put in time to work in presenting possible solutions. Make the job as easy as possible for me, the employer, to answer you your questions.
For example, they tell me “Okay. I tried to do the research but the service in question did not work for me, did not accept my email. It was not possible in my country or it’s now a paid service and it doesn’t work like your service in the video.” Something like that.
Then, the ideal continuation of that question would be, “I tried to find out several solutions. I have researched 3 different services in half an hour. Do we have a preference for one of them?”
Then they can say, if you definitely need this service, I propose these solutions.
- You send me your login data;
- You pay the fee for the service. And then, I will use the login center, whatever.
So then you just have to give a yes or no answer.
Eric
Yeah, definitely. Because, then too I think that was them feeling more comfortable to suggest things to you (the employer), as well as being freely able to search for solutions at the same time.
Francis
Did you watch the series called A House of Cards?
Eric
No.
Francis
It’s the super actor who did the American Beauty.
Eric
Yeah, I know who he is. I can’t remember his name either, but I know what you’re talking about.
Francis
Yeah. He has this great style of looking in the camera and saying sarcastic remarks in the series. It’s superb. I really recommend it to you. And why I’m talking about it is because there’s a great scene pretty late in the series.
I’m trying not to spoil it, but he’s talking with a guy, an important powerful guy, and he’s a businessman. During the meeting with this politician, he’s interrupted all the time by phone calls. He just takes up the phone and then just waits a second so the effect is more powerful when he speaks. Then he waits a few seconds and he’ll just say “yes or no” and hang up.
And I’ll ask my virtual assistant if he can find a video extract from the scene. Perhaps, this is possible to find. But in principle, that’s what you’re looking for. The assistant should prepare his questions with additional possible answers and you should just be able to say, “Solution 3 is fine.”
Continue reading part 8 –How to effectively extract virtual assistant concerns and questions?
Communication With Virtual Assistants – Learn The Ethical Standards From An Employer’s Point Of View
Communication with virtual assistants is part-10 of an interview with Eric, a fellow entrepreneur interested in outsourcing his work to virtual assistants all over the world.
Follow along to learn from our experience on working with VAs!
Summary:
- Employer and virtual assistant communication made easier through audio-video recording software.
- How to make communication comfortable and easier between employer and virtual assistant
- Find out what are the dilemmas with outsourcing and how communication plays a major role to make it easier
Start of the Interview:
Francis
So, recording your video and dropping it in your Dropbox and not waiting until it’s just synchronized just going away as your computer does the work; that saves some time.
Trying to have the questions at once and pre-answered will somehow save the time. But, what else could we talk about to make the communication with your assistant more effective?
Eric
I think the thing is that one of the main difficulties for me was being able to communicate with them even though the time zones were completely different. Because I think that in the Philippines and the United States, I think it was around a 12 hours time difference.
So, it was the middle of the night here when she was working and when I am awake, it was the middle of the night for her. That was one of the difficulties that I noticed was having to try to work things out to where we could communicate together and talk about certain things.
Francis
Okay. Funny, I have had the experience with both my main assistant and with my last candidate for full time VA. Both of them are sort of night owls. They can work pretty late into the night especially the assistant from the Philippines.
I’ve asked her if she couldn’t just switch to 9-5 job because I felt bad for her. She was working like 5 in the morning. I was feeling really bad. I said, “Okay, please go to sleep now.” And she was, “No, no. I like this and I’m feeling more productive at night and it’s less hot. And the internet has better quality.”
Especially, in the Philippines, I think it would be a good option to ask if she can slightly adjust to your schedule. So not like 12 hours but perhaps stay up a little bit later, in general, one of you. I think that would have been an option.
Eric
Well, and I think too, I mean, there were some times where I would say, will it be possible to meet at 8 o’clock?
It will be 8 o’clock at night for me and 8 o’clock in the morning for her. And that usually wasn’t much of a problem because it’s not super late for me but it’s not also too early for her. Or even 10 o’clock or 11 o’clock, you know what I mean?
Francis
Yeah, that’s perfect.
Eric
I think that’s not very much of a problem. It’s just being able to communicate at the same time
You know what I’m saying, it’s important to find time to sit down and talk about things and to show her certain things that I wanted done.
Francis
Okay. One idea that comes to my mind is – but I never tried this to be honest – to ask your virtual assistant to create screen recordings with her questions.
So, because you’re using voice recordings or screen recordings, you are able to convey much more information than with emails. Even emails with screenshots are more effective than emails.
Because sometimes you cannot put in words what your problem is. For example, if the assistant has to do a quite complicated process and you don’t know really where she’s stuck at and she isn’t able to convey this very effectively, then there’s a lot of going back and forth questions.
It would make sense to say, “Okay, please go to task. Start recording a 5 minute video and talk–explaining what you’re doing as you do in 5 minutes.”
Click around and then you look at it critically when you have the video. For example, if you cannot go online on Skype.
Eric
That was one of the things that I might actually do. As they come across something, they would send me screenshot of the area they were struggling with.
So that I could see exactly what it was that they had a problem with? Then it made it a whole lot easier for me when I was trying to explain to them what they need to fix.
So, I could say okay, “You know that short cut won’t work, try using this shortcut or you need to try to do this, because I can then see exactly what’s on our screen.”
Francis
Okay. Yeah, I think that’s effective. Because, then, you don’t have to guess what the problem is.
Sometimes as they go, you just want to stop them. If you had a phone call, you would just stop them and say “No, no, don’t do it.” But the video is then the next best solution.
Eric
Right.
Continue reading part 11 – Learn how to setup initial tasks with virtual assistants
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